Food Fridays: A Drink in Brunei Starts With Knowing the Code

By

Martin Vaughan

May 24, 2013 SGT

Tucked away on the second floor of one of Bandar Seri Begawan’s better-known hotels are two unmarked doors that from the outside appear to lead to standard hotel rooms. Listen closely though and you’ll hear the murmur of voices and the click of billiard balls. This is the entryway to Brunei’s underground drinking scene.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

The Islamic sultanate on the Borneo coast forbids the sale of alcohol, but that doesn’t mean visitors and residents can’t imbibe. They just have to be more than a little discreet about it.

On a recent Friday afternoon, tucked away on the second floor of one of Bandar Seri Begawan’s well-known hotels, three European men sit telling racy stories. They are fresh in from five weeks at sea on an assignment from their employer, a large global energy firm, and are happy to unwind with a beer in front of them. Regulars say many of patrons of the speakeasy, “the lounge” to those in the know, are foreigners connected to the oil and gas industry, the lifeblood of Brunei’s economy.